The last few weeks, we have had clear skies in Michigan, and the moon has been visible both night and day. At night, though, it seems to be more apparent and luminous…and foreboding.
Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island (1883) and the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), wrote in his poem “The Moon” that the moon “has a face like the clock in the hall / She shines on thieves on the garden wall.” Of course, thieves are a violent intrusion into our lives and their juxtaposition to the a thing of beauty–a garden wall–is like that of a beautiful full moon and the violence of dismemberment by a monster of the night.
Horror movies featuring werewolves always feature the moon high overhead, and the expectation that Lon Chaney jr. is down below looking up in horror is expected, but the looming eye of that wondrous spectral bulb exists to tell us that the moon is there watching and waiting, so stand guard!
“The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse, / The howling dog by the door of the house,” Stevenson tells us of the moon and its watchers, and “The bat that lies in bed at noon / All love to be out by the light of the moon.” Here Stevenson says that the bat sleeps in the day to engage in its love (of flight perhaps) when the moon is full and high in the sky.
And while the portentous nature of a full moon enlightens us to the werewolves among us, it also represents a peaceful time of recharging and solace. Kindly, Stevenson further states, that “But all of the things that belong to the day / Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way; And flowers and children close their eyes / Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.” The image of a sleeping child is a descriptive one as cherubs cuddled up in blankets and flowers falling to their gardens and soil until the light comes back can only be best described as childlike wonder and peace.
Works Cited
Stevenson, Robert Louis. “The Moon.” Public Domain. Web.
